Exam 3 Flashcards
What are the 6 key features of qualitative research?
- inductive - rely on individual experiences
- to develop theory
- described in words/themes
- key issues defined by person
- rich in-depth information
What are the 4 ways of data collection for qualitative research?
- interviews
- focus groups
- journals
- open-ended questions on surveys
What are the steps to data analyses?
data gathered > categories > coding rules > coding accuracy > revise rules to make strong agreement > code data into categories (themes)
What are 4 strengths to qualitative research?
+ useful in exploratory research
+ understanding a specific context
+ deeper understanding of participants (hear it from them)
+ helps avoid preconceived ideas of researchers
What are 3 weaknesses to qualitative research?
- unclear standards for data quality
- requires sophisticated participants
- possibility of reactivity
What is the goal of all research?
To discover a law of nature - something that’s true of behavior, thought, or emotion
What is a population?
entire group to whom we want our finding to apply
What is a sample?
part of the population chosen to represent the population (who’s being researched)
What is representativeness?
sample must be similar to population on key characteristics
Why is representativeness important?
sample is used to infer responses of the entire population
What is a way to improve representativeness?
Random sampling
What are the types of random sampling?
simple random sampling, stratified random sampling, cluster sampling
What is simple random sampling?
Each person has an equal chance of showing up in your study
ex. Clemson students’ attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide
What is stratified random sampling?
Divide population based on characteristic, then randomly sample
ex. ethnicity
What is cluster sampling?
take advantage of clusters, randomly sample w/in clusters
ex. schools within a system
What are the types of nonrandom sampling?
convenience, snowball, purposive, quota
What is convenience sampling?
Take whoever is available
argument strongest in physio, perception, cognition
What is the justification for convenience sampling?
discovering laws, not predicting population means
Why is non-response a problem in research?
potential for bias - why did people not respond? could say something about the people that responded like a shared characteristic
ex. effectiveness of mental health treatment (Consumer Reports)
How can researchers deal with non-response?
difficult to completely eliminate
try to increase response rates with reminder calls, emails
See if responders differ from overall sample on key variables
What are the effects of asking prior questions? For example, recalling 3 positive or negative events that were either recent or distant.
The findings were:
positive and recent - better well-being
negative and past - better well-being; currently better off compared to past, happier
How can question order affect correlation? ex. marital satisfaction and life satisfaction
C1: general state, marriage -> moderate correlation
C2: marriage, general state -> large correlation (primed, used marital info to form overall estimate of life satisfaction)
What is the purpose of statistics?
used to test hypothesis
Which measure of central tendency do you use when your data are highly skewed?
Median
Why is truncating the Y-axis misleading?
can make a small effect seem big
ex. effects of tutoring on test performance - one scale has wider range (0-100) and the other has smaller range (68-80)
How would you analyze a correlational design with two continuous variables?
correlation coefficient